And while some of the inductees feel nearly inevitable (Ringo Starr), or even sentimental (three posthumous inductees: Lou Reed and the leads of both the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble), some of the people left out feel like a statement of purpose.

Without the pioneering work of N.W.A. there is no West Coast Hip Hop sound to follow: no Snoop Dogg, no East vs. West rivalry (though arguably you still get Tupac who came out of California Bay Area group Digital Underground, the rift and talent pool would certainly be more one-sided, tilting Eastward). Similarly, without the legendary influence of The Smiths, there is no Oasis: no Gallagher brothers rivalry, potentially no Blur or likely Travis, either.

For his part, Ian Scott of Anthrax thinks that it's currently a popularity contest when it doesn't need to be. In a recent NY Daily News article, Scott says, "When you talk about sports, you look at the stats, it's all math...Babe Ruth hit x average and x home runs and so he gets in. Numbers don't lie. When it comes to music it comes strictly down to taste."

Green Day made the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.
C. Flanigan / Getty Images

Until that happens, we can probably assume that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is working to be inclusionary of major movements in modern music and respect that. Still, if that is the case, it takes more than the occasional genre act as lip-service to prove it.